formed their part, and been called to their account; wars have been fought and ended which have changed the destinies of the human race."

Amid all the turmoil and strife of his times, he maintained a calm, equable tone. His writings are always restful. "We read, and are quieted and consoled." The sunshine of a genial temper rests on all his work. His pathos is a gentle shadow, which never deepens into gloom. His landscape is perennial. Summer showers may fall upon it, but the drear November rains," the fierce storms, the tempests, - these are reserved for more desolate climes.

His writings concern and interest all mankind. Their universality is phenomenal. "In his pages we see that the language of the heart never becomes obsolete; that truth, and good, and beauty—the offspring of God are not subject to the changes which beset the empire of man."- Bryant. These are the characteristics of true literature, a literature that will interest all who may yet read it, as it now interests us.

Irving's humor is charming, and capable of being sustained indefinitely. Sir Walter Scott wrote to him thanking him for his "Knickerbocker's History of New York," and saying that in reading it, he and his family had laughed until their sides were literally sore. No sarcasm is more potent than that of Irving, and yet it is so good-natured as hardly to give offense.

The English people were greatly pleased with his sketches of rural life in England. When he visited that country, they received him with flattering attentions; but he says they seemed greatly astonished to find that an American could write fairly good English.

He steadily refused to accept any public office, preferring a quiet life at home, but finally accepted the appointment of minister to Spain. While in that country he made so diligent use of his time that he gathered material for some of the finest works that have ever enriched our literature. His Moorish Chronicles," "Alhambra," "Conquest of Granada," and "Life of Columbus" grew out of his sojourn in that historic land. His Astoria," "Tour on the Prairies," and Bonneville's Adventures" give a picturesque view of our far West in the early part of the century. His "Mahomet and His Successors" is as entertaining as a tale of fiction, and much more profitable reading. A full list of his works cannot be given here. Indeed they constitute quite a library. One of his latest works was the "Life of Washington." A young American could hardly find better historical reading than this work and the Life of Columbus."

117. William Paley (1743-1805). — In taking notice of the religious writers who exerted an influence during the first years of the century, it is necessary to go back a few years. Irving lived and wrote till past the middle of the century. Dr. William Paley died just as Irving was beginning to write for publication; so his literary labors ended just when those of the great American were bearing their first fruits; but not so his influence: that will never die. Paley was a plain man, noted for his originality and for the remarkable clearness of his intellect. The following description of the man is so terse and strong, and withal so realistic, that it could hardly be improved:

There was no doubt or obscurity either about the man or his works: he stands out in bold relief among his brother-divines, like a sturdy oak on a lawn or parterre a little hard and cross-grained, but sound, fresh, and massive-dwarfing his neighbors with his weight and bulk, and his intrinsic excellence.

He shall be like a tree that grows

Near planted by a river,

Which in his season yields his fruit,
And his leaf fadeth never.

So says our old version of the Psalms with respect to the fate of a righteous man, and Paley was a righteous. man, whose mind yielded precious fruit, and whose leaves will never fade.

118. William Wilberforce (1759-1833). This good man exerted a wide influence in bringing about reforms, both in social life and in the laws of the nation. He urged the necessity of vital piety, and his life was a daily illustration of the principles he taught. He keenly appreciated the evils of human slavery, and employed his talents, time, and influence against it. Being a member of Parliament, he labored for twenty years to get a law passed to abolish the slave-trade, and at last he succeeded.

119. Dr. Adam Clarke (1760-1832).- Dr. Clarke wrote a Commentary on the Bible," a "Bibliographical Dictionary," and various religious treatises. He was noted for his earnestness and faithfulness as a preacher and missionary, and for his profound oriental scholar

ship. He was a native of Ireland, and among other missionary labors he visited the Shetland Islands, and established a mission there. His "Commentary" abounds in the most useful and reliable information.

120. Dr. Chalmers (1780-1847).-Thomas Chalmers, D. D. and LL. D., was a voluminous writer, and a pulpit orator of great fame. Uncouth in appearance and disagreeable in manner, he still had an astonishing power to chain an audience and stimulate thought. This wonderful influence is said to have depended chiefly on his energy and his intense earnestness. He united with these qualities an inexhaustible fund of illustration, but his language is seldom in itself either pleasing or elegant. One who heard him says that the magic of his eloquence lay in his concentrated intensity, which made his hearers forget his awkwardness, and wrapped them in his own enthusiasm. When Canning heard him, he was at first disappointed, but was soon led to exclaim, "We have no such preaching in England." He was a worker as well as a preacher. He looked after the physical as well as the spiritual wants of the poor, not only those among his flock, but also those of the whole city.

Chalmers united the learning of the philosopher with the imagination of the poet. His works were many and extensive. He wrote on theology, the evidences of Christianity, moral philosophy, education, political economy, and astronomy, besides writing sermons, essays, and papers concerning the best methods of caring for the poor. Extracts from his writings will

be found in Part Second of this work.

121. Hannah More (1745-1833).— This remarkable woman was the daughter of an English schoolmaster. She was educated by her father. At the age

of sixteen she wrote a pastoral drama called "The Search after Happiness. It soon went through three editions, and the next year she published another. When about twenty-eight, she took up her abode in London, in the house of Garrick the famous actor. Here she met Dr. Johnson, who was greatly pleased with her. She also associated with Burke the orator, Sir Joshua Reynolds the great painter, and with most of the literary celebrities of the day. She met with success on every hand. One of her plays brought her nearly

four thousand dollars.

But in the midst of all this prosperity, and while enjoying a degree of popularity almost unequaled, she relinquished this gay life, that she might devote all her energies to doing good. Conceiving the idea of turning fiction- and play-writing to the advancement of religion, she wrote a volume of sacred dramas.

She addressed

Her plans for good were far-reaching. her efforts to the high as well as to the lowly. One of her prose volumes was entitled "Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the Great to General Society;" another was "Estimate of the Religion of the Fashionable World." She wrote a number of tales, published monthly under the title of The Cheap Repository, and they soon reached a circulation of a million copies of each number. So she kept on in her work until she was eighty-eight years old. She made about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on her publications; but she knew what to do with her means.

She